Yes, yes, I’m stil playing Dragon Quest IX. And I’m playing it hardcore. I’ve logged 86 hours into the game as of now, and I can’t stop playing. From what I can tell, I have almost completed the main story.

I put off completing story missions for a while, just because I was worried that once I finished the main story, I would have no incentive to continue to play the game. I mean, I would still have things to alchemize and equipment to collect, but what purpose would that serve, other than checking things off a list? I want to do that stuff now, so I can use it to help me complete the story. And if I finish the main story missions, what purpose do I have for collecting all the equipment? 

Luckily, DQIX has pretty enticing post-game content, like items and weapons that are only available after the story is completed. After having attempted a few grottos (short dungeons that are accessed by using treasure maps), I’ve found that most of the grotto bosses are far too difficult at my current level. After completing my first lvl. 1 grotto, I got a map to a lvl. 8 grotto, and got trounced by the boss. I beat the lvl. 1 grotto boss a few more times and got a lvl. 3 grotto map, and was still unable to beat that boss (though it was close!). 

So, I am confident that I’ll have plenty to do after completing the games storyline, and I’m proceeding to finish the game now. I’m still blown away by the amount of content present in the game. I’m curious as to how many hours I’ll be at when I finally stop playing. Hopefully I’ll be able to at least double my current time and hit around 170 hours. That would be awesome.